San Francisco Becomes First City in the Country to Offer Free College Tuition to all Residents

On Monday, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisor Jane Kim announced plans to offer free City College tuition to all of San Francisco’s residents regardless of need. It would be the first metropolitan area to do so.

San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim told local station KGO-TV, “Making City College free is going to provide greater opportunities for more San Franciscans to enter into the middle class and more San Franciscans to stay in the middle class if they currently are.”

Today I am excited to announce w/Mayor + CCSF Trustees that we are making SF 1st city in nation to make City College free for our residents! https://t.co/rEiKKxVkFn

Under the proposed deal, which is expected to take effect in the fall, the city of San Francisco would provide the City College of San Francisco with nearly $5.4 million annually.

The two-year community college currently charges $46 per-credit. More than 28,000 students would benefit from the proposal, Kim says, and any resident who has lived in the city for at least a year would qualify.

The deal would also provide full-time low-income students who already receive fee waivers from the state $250 per semester. These funds could be used towards books, transportation and other costs.

#SF set to provide free tuition @ #CCSF for residents. 1st city in nation w/program; will also provide grants to neediest students. https://t.co/xTh4qaGfHq

To help City College develop and implement these changes, the city of San Francisco would additionally offer one-time funding of $500,000.

In November, residents approved a transfer tax on properties selling above $5 million to help pay for the deal.

Lee and Kim’s announcement marks a major milestone in the campaign for free college. In January, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed a plan to give free public college tuition to students whose parents earn less than $125,000 per year. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both backed similar proposals.

But San Francisco’s plan takes the concept one step further. Wealthy residents, “even the children of the founders of Facebook,” would qualify for free two-year community college under this proposal, says Supervisor Jane Kim.

Tomorrow, City College of San Francisco’s board of trustees is expected to finalize the plan.

About Alexis Sostre

Entrepreneur, contributor, writer, and editor of Sostre News. With a powerful new bi-lingual speaking generation by his side, Sostre News is becoming the preferred site for the latest in Politics, Entertainment, Sports, Culture, Tech, Breaking and World News.

Check Also

This radical generation of millennials, are controlled by the spirit of rebellion.
naturally they rebel against humanity, authority, discipline.many are products
of a single parent household, suffer from strained parental relationships...

Sostre News is the destination for official news and content, offering coverage of US Politics, Entertainment, Sports, Tech, Culture, Business and World News.